Railway terminal of the direct steaming type



Fem. 7, w33. E. BROCK RAILWAY TERMINAL OF THE DIRECT STEAMING TYPE FiledFeb. 20. 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet l muy@ WWUNYR I N VEN TOR: [w50/v 5mm,

A TTGRNEKS.

Feb. 7, 1933. l; BROCK 1,896,765

RAILWAY TERMINAL OF THE DIRECT STEAMING TYPE Filed Feb. 2o. 1951 4sheets-sheet 2 fg r /0b 5": 6 /0 o NSS. /a o 1 v //C1 gli :l c Q u Y I NVEN TOR:

. W ,5p/50N @Foc/q WHW ATTORNEYS.

Feb. 7, 1933. E, BROCK RAILWAY TERMINAL 0F THE DIRECT STEAMING TYIE 19314 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 20,

BfA-.$5006 INVENTOR- f/so/v 5906K,

mmsss w. HW

A TTORNEYS.

Feb. 7, 1933. E. BROCK RAILWAY TERMINAL OF THE DIRECT STEAMING TYPEFiled Feb. 20. 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 A TTORNEYS.

INVENTOR Q/50N 516296K,

wmvfss HRW Patented Feb. 7, 1933 UNITED STATES PATEN'll OFFICE EDISONBROCK, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO RAILWAY ENGINEERING EQUIP- MENTCOMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS RAILWAYTERMINAL OF THE DIRECT STEAMING- TYPE Application led February 20, 1931.Serial No. 517,150.

This invention relates to railway locomotive terminals of the directsteaming type, and particularly locomotive terminals having stationbuildings and other facilities cona suming power, for instance, electriccurrent. A railway locomotive terminal that has come to be known intheart as a direct steaming terminal is one in which facilities areprovided for storing locomotives during their layover period (usuallysegregated from the positions at which fires are discharged by arrivingengines and fresh fires are ignited on departing engines, and thereforecommonly called tireless engine houses), as well as facilities forbringing to such locomotives, from an extraneous local source, eithersteam alone for maintaining the locomotives in a steamed conditionwithout the aid of fire on their grates while being held over, or both2O steam and hot water from such local source in the terminal inproportions appropriate for establishing, without the aid of fire on thelocomotive grates, a steamed condition in locomotive boilers that havebeen emptied.

F or maintaining steam pressure on locolnotives held in so-calledtireless engine houses at direct steaming terminals, only a. moderatesteam pressure is required, but for reestablishing a steamed conditionin these locomotives as quickly as possible after they have been emptieda high steam pressure is desired; and for making certain tests on thelocomotives, such as setting the safety valves, it is essential tosupply steam to the locomotives from the extraneous source at a pressurein excess of the locomotive working pressure. The high steam pressureshould also be available at tireless engine houses for steaming thelocomotives up to a suitable 43 operating pressure at which they can bedispatched after being held at a moderate pressure during the longlayover period. One object of holding locomotives at a moderate steampressure during such long layover i5 period is to reduce the radiationlosses that increase proportionally with the pressure at which thelocomotive is held under steam. Continuous supply of high pressure steamto locomotives being held under steam during their layover period wouldbe disadvantageous for the reasons, among others, that the safety valveson these engines would be opened too frequently, and the amount of steamcondensation that would accumulate in the locomotive boilers would beexcessive.

The usual practice in direct steaming terminals is to furnish steam athigh pressure in a single steam main to the engine house and provide asmall by-pass around the principal steam operating valve through whichsteam may flow from the high pressure supply line to each locomotive.When it is desired to hold a locomotive under steam for any length oftime in the engine house, the valve in this by-pass is opened while themain steam operating valve is left closed, the effect being to admitenough steam to the locomotive boiler to maintain only a moderate steampressure therein. This process is technically known as fioatinglocomotives and is described and claimed both as to the method andtheequipment for practicing the method in U. S. Patent No. 1,788,- 064issued to George E. Murray under date of January 6, 1931.

The present invention does away with the use of the above-describedby-pass Heating arrangement for maintaining moderate steam pressure inlocomotives during their holdover period, and in place of the singlemain serving a number of stations and having the by-pass arrangement ateach station, substitutes two steam mains carrying differentialpressures to all the stations served, and having at each stationseparately controlled connections through which they may supply to alocomotive at said station, high pressure or moderate pressure asrequired. The lower pressure carried in one of these mains isapproximately that at which it is found most advantageous to holdlocomotives during their layover period. The valve and connections fromthe moderate pressure steam main to the locomotive may be such as willallow an equalization of the pressure in the locomotive with that insaid main, or may be throttled suiiiciently to cause a lag in suchequalization of pressure when found desirable. The higher pressurecarried in the other steammain is sufficient for raising the locomotivepressure to a suitable degree for dispatching the locomotive from theterminal or making certaintests on the locomotive requiring a pressureat or approximately equal to the full working pressure of thelocomotive; and the connections from this steam main to the locomotive,together with the operating valve, are so proportioned that a rapidtransfer of high pressure steam to the locomotive can be effected insteaming up the locomotive boiler from an empty condition or boostingthe steam pressure in the boiler after the locomotive has beenmaintained at a moderate pressure during the layover period.

ln combination with the delivery of steam to the locomotive engine houseat two dier ential pressures for direct steaming purposes as abovedescribed, my invention includes a steam-driven engine, preferably ofthe tur bine type, receiving steam at the higher ofl these differentialpressures and exhausting steam at the lower of said differentialpressures, this exhauststeam being conducted to the engine house throughthe lower differentialpressure Vmain and utilized for such phases of thedirect steaming method as can be accomplished with this lowerdiiferential v pressure.

l To facilitate the practical operation of this invention, in thepractice of which a fluctuating load may occur in the use of the'lowerpressure steam, I prefer to employ al steam turbine of the so-calledbleeder type, which is adapted to deliverk its full load capacity whenreceiving steam at the higher differential and exhausting practicallyall of this steam at the lower differential pressure, but is alsoequipped for expanding steam from the higher' dierential pressure downto approximately atmospheric pressure or, if desired, a vacuum, and is`so designed that the quantity of steam exhausted at the intermediatepressure may fluctuate from a maximum, approximating the total weight ofsteam delivered to the turbine, down to Zero, at which stage all of thesteam delivered to the turbine is expanded to approximately atmosphericpressure. Such liuctuations in the quantity of steam exhausted at theintermediate stage for delivery to the enginehouse in the lowerdifferential pressure lineV do not affect the capacity of this type ofturbine forpower generation as usually transmitted to an electricgenerator. Steam admitted to the turbine at the initial high presure andexpanded to the intermediate stage, from which it is exhausted at apressure suitable for moderate pressure requirements of direct steamingin Vthe engine house, is affected in virtually the same way as would.yresult from its being run through a pressure reducing valve -to obtainthe lower pressure but inthis instance it has performed useful workinbeing thus expanded toV lower pressure, so that in reality thatportion Yof the electric current producedl or other work performed bythe expansion of this steam in the turbine between the high andintermediate stages is obtained with very little' steam in addition tothe amount of steam that would otherwise have to be produced for suchphases of direct steaming as can be accomplished with steam atarelatively low pressure.

rihe practice of generating electric current or performing other usefulwork by ex-V panding steam from a high initial pressure to a moderatepressure` at which it is required for various processes. has long beenracticed where as in a er 'mills etc. there is a continualdemand forthis low pressure process steam as well as for generating electriccurrent. Also,`this procedure has been often employed forgeneratingelectric cur- V throughout the engine house having separate f"direct steaming connections to each locomotive as proposed in myinvention, l. am able to obtain a substantial moderate pressure steamload throughout tie entire year at locomotive terminalsof the directsteaming type and employ this load in conjunction with a steam engine orturbine receiving steam` at a high pressure at leastequal to thatsupplied to the higiier pressure main in the engine house and exhaustingall or a y portion of this steam in sufficient quantities to supply allof the direct steaming fuiictions that can beaccomplished at a moderatepressure. o

If a single steam main is used in tireless locomotive terminals ith asufliciently high pressure to bring an emptied locomotive boiler tosteamed condition or to develop the Vhigh pressure with which it isdesired l to dispatch a locomotive for duty, and thisV single main ismade to supply steam through a by-pass at a rate appropriate toii'oating locomotives or keeping them steamed to Ya moderate pressurewhile they are held over, the hold over pressure on a relatively largelocomotive, or one subject to high radiation losses, will drop until thedi'erence between the locomotive pressure and the pressure in the steamsupply main induces a steam iiow of suflicient heat content tocompensate for the heat losses through such radiation. Conversely,.thepressure on a smaller locomotive Vconmacted to the steam supplymainthrough ahy-pass of the same size builds up as the pressure diderenceybetween the locomotive Cil and the steam supply main diminishes, andsteam How through the by-pass is retarded until the heat content fromsteam thus admitted to the locomotive is equal to the lower radiationloss on the smaller locomotive. It has been found in practice that largeand small locomotives held under steam at direct steai'ning stations bymeans of this by-pass floating arrangement now in use, may range inpressures maintained from to 150 pounds, deoendent upon the size andradiation tendency of the locomotive. This is due to the fact that whensteam is supplied from one and the same high pressure main, throughidentical by-passes, to the drop connections leading to large and smalllocomotives alike, heat loss and consequent pressure drop is not sofully restored in larger locomotives having greater heat dissipatingsurfaces, as in smaller` locomotives with lesser heat dissipatingsurfaces.

The' primary object of the present invention is to provide means wherebylarge and small locomotives may be maintained alike at a desiredpressure while being held over at direct steaming stations, withouttires on their gratos; and the invention proceeds upon the principle ofusing for this purpose a moderate pressure steam supply main that isseparate and distinct from the high pressure steam supply, so that alllocomotives so held may take steam until a pressure equal to or bearinga predetermined relation to the moderate pressure st-eam main isattained in the locomotiif'e boiler, regardless of its size andradiation losses.

A collateral object is to provide a system whereby the principle of dualsupply pipes furnishing, respectively, high pressure steam and moderatepressure steam to direct steam ing stations in a. railway terminal maybe realized in a rational and economical manner. Except where stationaryboilers of two different pressure capacities are already available, itwould not economically be desirable from the standpoint of stationarypower plant engineering and operation to build a stationary power plantwith the intention of operating the boilers therein at differentpressures, in order to supply to direct steaming stations one pressurefor steaming up locomotives to their Jfull working pressure, and anrother pressure suitable for holding locomo tives without lires duringtheir lay-over period; and this is true even though the phases of thedirect steaming method which can be performed at the moderate pressuremay normally equal one-half or even a larger proportion of the totalsteam required for d.' t steaming purposes in a tireless engine house.Hence, where the system is originally conn structed on the dual steamsupply plan, the use of a single steam source with pressure at leastequal to that required for the high pressure steam main is adesideratum, and this in turn imposes the requirement of somepracticable means for stepping down the steam pressure to thatappropriate for the moderate pressure supply main.

One means for obtaining two differential pressures in two differentsupply mains, without operating stationary boilers at two differentpressures, would be to draw o a portion of the steam from a single highpressure steam source and deliver the same to the moderate pressuresupply main through a pressure reducing valve. But this method is opento serious objection where the volume of steam delivered, the durationof delivery and the variations in steam flow are large as in themoderate pressure steam main used for hold over purposes in directsteaming stations, for the reason that the pressure reducing valves mayfail to function properly, particularly if not carefully maintained;also that they have a limited range of capacity for the quantity ofsteam delivered from the high pressure source to the moderate pressuremain. If these valves are made large enough to deliver the maximumquantity of steam that may be required for supplying the moderatepressure main, and this requirement should drop to a minimum below thecapacity of the reducing valve, the effect will be to damage this valveby cutting out its seating surfaces.

Accordingly, in realizing the purposes of the present invention, thesystem contemplates t-he use of a single high pressure boiler sourcefrom which steam is drawn for both high pressure and moderate pressuremains, and a steam actuated engine is interposed between this singlesource and the moderate pressure main and adapted to utilize steam fromthe single source in the generation of power by expansion of such steam,and deliver the expanded steam at a residual pressure adequate for thepurposes served by the moderate pressure main. One type of steam engineappropriate for such service is the turbine of the so-called bleedertype, which not only avoids the disadvantages of the aforesaid reducingvalve method of stepping down steam pressures, but enhances the economicvalue of the system and. by its genera.- tion of power, compensates forthe cost of the dual system of steam mains as compared with the singlesteam main system.

In the accompanying drawings, in which several embodiments of theinvention are shown by way of illustration- Figure l is a schematicrepresentation of one embodiment of the invent-ion, including onelocomotive direct steaming station` of which there may be any desirednumber.

Figure 2 is an elevational view of the con` uections and controlsemployed at a direct steaming station whereby selective communii cationwith the dual system of steam supply mains, in addition to theconnections normallUO llO

CIK

Vso

ly made at such a station, may be effected at Will.

Figure 3 Figure 2. Y

Figure il is a view similar to Figure 1 showing a. modied embodiment ofthe invention, according to which, the steam genis a plan View of partsshown in rerating source may be operated at a pressure in excess of thatrequired inthe high'pressure steam supply main to direct steamingstations, as When such higher pressure 1s desired for more economicaloperation of the' steam power generator; pressure control mechanism suchas a reducing 'valvev and an accumulator being added to automaticallyreduce the pressure of steam supplied to the high pressure directsteaming supply main from the source pressure to that pressure desiredin said high pressure main, in addition to a steam power generator, asinFigure 1,l

employed for stepping down the source pressure of steam-to thatappropriatefor the Vsaid source being expanded down to two differentstages in the steam power' generator, .from one of which stages steam isreleased to the higher'pressure supply main at an appropriate pressuretherefor, and from the other of said stages steam is released to theVmoderate pressure supply main at the desired moderate pressure to bemaintained therein.

A represents a direct steaming station typical of any number of stationsthat may he required in tireless engine house or else- Where, and whichrequire thefurnishing'of steam at both high and moderate pressures fortheir operation; such stations including a high pressure steam pipe main1, a' moderate pressure steam pipe main 2, and other equipment as may bedesirable, such, for instance, as aV locomotive blowoit pipe main 3 andaV ruling Water pipemain 4. rThis station is also provided with aflexible connection 5, usually referred to as the steaming drop. adaptedfor convenient attachment to the locomotive boiler. for instance, at itsblorroli7 cock 6. Vand for selective communication with any of the pipes1, 2, '3 and 4C,

rough a booster fitting 7 of ordinary construction having a bottomoutlet 7a leading through pipe 5 to the locomotive bloWoff coclr 6: alateral outlet 7 7) communicating through branch 8 With the blowofl'pipe 3; aside inlet 'cfrom the filling Water main Ll; and a single topinlet 7d communicating with both ot the steamcmains 1 and 2, throughwhich inletsfsteam and hot Water can be adsuch,

mitted and delivered to an empty locomotive boiler in the requisiteproportions for establishing a steamed condition therein; 8 being the.connection through Which the booster fitting 7 communicates With thebloWoi" pipe 8; l9 the connection through which it receivesreillingWater from pipe l; 10 the connection leading from the Ahigh pressuremain 1; and 11 the connection leading from the boiler pressure main 2.These connections may be better observed upon reference to Figures 2 and3,'Where they will be found identified by the numerals above given andassociated Ywith other features now conventional in direct steamingstation equipment, for instance, as valve 8a controlling the blovvoffconnection 8; valve 9a controlling yhe filling Water connection 9; checkvalve 85 preventing back flow from the blowoif main 3 to the boosterfitting 7; and check valve QZ preventing fiovv from the booster fitting7 back through connectionV 9 to the filling Water main i- In addition tothe-equipment thus far described st direct steaming stations, Vthepresent vinvention contemplates the use of an Aoperating valve 10o inthe connection-10 which 1 Y reads from the high pressuresteam main 1;.an operating Vvalve 11a in the connection 11 leading from the moderatepressure steam main 2; and tvvo'checlr valves 10?) and 11?),respectively,in said connections 10 and 11, each designed to preventback fiovv of steam from booster fitting 7 to the supply main, orinterflow from one steam main to the other steam main.

B represents a. generating source ofvhigh pressure steam, for' instance,a conventional steam boiler from which steam at or 'nearl boilerpressure may be Withdrawn through a piperheader 12.` In the layoutillustrated in Figure 1, high pressure steam supply main 1 formsV acontinuation of boiler header 12 and delivers to the direct steamingstation A steam received from the boiler substantially at boilerpressure, inasmuch as this particular embodiment contemplates operatingthe boiler at the highest steam pressure required for direct steamingpurposes. Moderate pressure steam supply main 2 receives steam drawn ofrom a steam power generator C, which is furnished rvwith steam atsubstantially the operating` pressure .of boiler B, n

through a pipe 13 branching from header 12 at 14; steam power generatorC being in the nature of a steam turbine having a dravvofi outlet 15through which it delivers to the moderate pressure steam supply main 2at any expansion stage inthe turbine which renders the drawn oft steamappropriate in pressure Yfor maintaining locomotives. in a Y 13a leadingsteaming stations through main 2 exceeds that which is obtained throughdraw-off outlet 15, said moderate pressure main 2 may also receive steamthrough a cross-over pipe from the source pressure steam supply pipe 13,a valve 13b of the type commonly designated as pressure reducing,wherein the degree of opening is governed by a diaphragm 13m acted uponthrough pipe 13g by the pressure in the pipe 13a, to the effect that asthe pressure in 13a drops below a predetermined degree, the pressureupon the diaphragm 13a is correspondingly lowered and the opening ofvalve 13b thereby enlarged by the. counteracting force of a WeightV orspring until the additional steam fiow through said valve is sufficientto restore the pressure in the pipe 13a to said predetermined degree.Conversely, if the pressure in pipe 13a rises above the desired degree,the effect upon the diaphragm 13al is to throttle the steam flow throughsaid valve until the pressure in pipe 13a has been restored to itsdesired degree. Steam not drawn off at 15 continues through the turbineeither to final exhaust 16 or to such additional draw-off connections astypified by 17, whence steam may be released at appropriate pressuresfor other uses, for instance, supplying the battery of heating radiators18 through pipe 19, and which additional draw-olf connections may be inaddition to the conventional final exhaust 16 usually found in suchturbines. By the means thus far described, the direct steaming station Ais provided with steam at two dierent pressures appropriate the one toits high pressure requirements and the other to its moderate pressurerequirements through al dual system of pipe mains which are independentone of the other, With the advantages already herein described.

The steam power generator C lendsitself with peculiar advantage for theservlce lof direct steaming stations as herein described, for theadditional reason that it may deliver steam at reduced pressures throughadditional draw-off connections, typified by 17, to radiators such as18, from which the residual heat units derived from such steam in theform of condensate may be returned by pump 20 from said radiators to ahot wat-er reservoir 21; while steam finally exhausted from the powergenerator C throughk connection 16, after condensation in condenser 22,may have its residual heat delivered in the form of condensateby pump 23through connection 24 to the said reservoir, thus augment-ing the supplyof hot water received by said reservoir from the condenser 25 andseparator 26, representing facilities of a conventional type forobtaining hot water by means of steam heat content in locomotive boilerblowoffs received fromV direct steaming stations through the blowof main3.

Hot waterreservoir 21 may be used as a source of hot water for illinglocomotive boilers at station A, through pipe 4 by means of pump 27 andalso as a source of hot Water for feeding boiler B by means of pump 28and pipe 29; the heat of the Water supplied through .the last-nameddelivery being, if desired, augmented by interposing in said pipe 29,feed water heater 30 deriving its heat from exhaust of steam actuatedauxiliaries such as pumps 20, 23, 28 and other pumps, as 31, used forforcing cooling water through condenser 22. Condensate from said boilerfeed Water heater through pipe 32, and from other sources if available,may advantageously be delivered to the hot water reservoir 21,

According to Figure 4, the dual pressure steam supply mains 1 and 2, tobe connected with the locomotive through parts substantially referencecharacters similar to Figure 1, are here supplied from a steam boiler Bwhich is operated at a pressure materially higher than the highestpressure desired for direct steaming purposes at station A,necessitating both a reduction in the pressure of steam from the boilersource to the high pressure supply main 1, and a further reduction fromsource pressure in the steam delivered to the moderate pressure supplymain 2. To this end, boiler header 12 delivers steam at source pressureand at a relatively uniform rate through pipe 33 to a steam heataccumulator 34, from which accumulator steamv can be drawn off throughpipe 35 and supplied to the high pressure steam supply main 1, at eithera uniform or relatively fluctuating rate in sufficient amount, governedby a control valve 36 of known type, having diaphragm 36a subjected tothe pressure of steam in pipe 1 through branch pipe 36?) which functionsin the usual Way, to maint-ain the pressure de` sired for directsteaming at station A.

The cross connection 37 shown in Figure 4 is adapted to supply steamdirect from the boiler source to the high pressure steam supply main 1through a pressure reducing valve 38 which functions in the usual Way togovern the amount of steam flowing through the connection 37, so thatthe highest steam pressure desired for direct steaming at station A willbe maintained in main 1; this connection being useful as an alternativesource of steam supply to the high pressure main or as a supplement tothe accumulator for either continuous or emergency use, in which casethe valve 38 automatically functions to feed steaml from source B directto main 1 as re` quired to maintain the desired high pressure in saidmain Whenever the amount of steam received from the accumulator isdeficient for this purpose. As in Figure 1, steam for the moderatepressure supply main 2 in Figure 4 is supplied at the desired pressureto main 2 in such a system the same as described in and bearing Y fromthe draw-oh' outlet 15 inthe power Y boiler B through pipe 29 is heatedto an economical degree in a feed water heater supv plied withcondensate from various sources, such as the heating elements 18 andcondenser 22and receiving` the exhaust steam of pumps 20, 23, 29, 31kand .such other'steam actuated auxiliaries as desired througliftheexhaustI header 30?). v Y According to Figure 5,' the steam generatingboiler B isoperated at a pressure in excess of the highest pressuredesired for direct i steaming purposes, and the steam power generator Cvis utilized for stepping down vthe pressure ofy steam from the boilersource by successive-stages of expansion to both the higher and lowerpressures desired for di- .Y rect steaming purposes,` steamL at a lowerpressure desired for supplying the moderate pressure main 2 being drawnofi' fromfthe power generator through outlet 15, while steam at thehighest pressure desired for direct steaming is ldrawn on from the powergenerator through a prior stage outlet 15a, and thencesuppliedindependently to the high pressure main 1. r1`hat is to say, thesteam power generator'G which receives its steam at relatively highboiler pressure, delivers'steam after one stage of expansion, to highpressure main 1, and, after a succeeding stage of expansion to moderateVpressure main 2; the steam being taken off at these two stages throughthe draw-oli' outlets 15a and 15. i

In Figure 5 the parts not specifica] ly mentioned may be identified byVapplying the description of similarly numbered parts in Figure 1. Afeature shown in Figure 5 in addition to those shown in either of theFigures 1 or 4.-', is the provision of pipe 19a leading from the lowpressure draw-of outlet 17 Y in the steam power generator VCto a waterheater 30m, which is in addition to the pipe 19 leading from thedraw-olf outlet 17 to an air heater 18x Ytypifying a means for theseasonal use of low pressure steam so that the expanded' steam issuingat 17 may either be used for air heating and other seasonalrequirements, or may have its residual heat content transmitted inheater 30m to feed water flowing through pipe 29 to boiler B.

I claim: i.

1. In a railway terminal, a locomotive direct steaming station, a steamgenerating source supplying steam at a pressure at least equal `to themaximum pressurerequired for direct steamingY of locomotives, two steamsupply pipes leadingindependently to said station and each adaptedto-deliver steam 'of station, and releasing steam to one ofn saidsaid'source'to a locomotive thereat, and a steam actuated engineinterposed between saidsource and said station, producing power by' theexpansion of steam on its way to said supply pipes at a pressure whichis lower than that of the steam received by the other of said pipes,whereby two distinct supplies of steam are made available to thelocomotive at constant pressures, respectively, appropriate to twodiierent phases of directsteaming practice. Y y v- 2. A railway terminalas described in claim 1, in which only a portion of the steam expandedin the interposed engine is made available to the locomotive.

3. In a railway terminal, alocomotive direct steaming station, a steamgenerating source supplying steam at a Apressure at least equal to themaximum pressure requiredV for direct steaming of locomotives, two steamsupply pipes leading independently to said station, each adapted todeliver steam of said source to a locomotive tliei'eat, and a steamactuated engine' interposed between said source and said station,producing power by the expansion ofsteam on its way to said station andreleasing steam to both of said supply pipes, to Vone at a higher and tothe other at a lower pressurepi'vherebyV two distinct supplies of steamare made available to the locomotive at constant pressures,respectively, appropriate to two different phases of direct steamingpractice. 4:. A railway terminal as described in claim 3, in which onlya portion of the steam expanded in theJ interposed engine `and deliveredto the two supplies'of steam is lmade available to the locomotive. Y

5. In a railway terminal, a locomotive direct steaming station, twosteam supply pipes at said station, means for delivering steam from oneor the other of saidsupply pipes at will to a locomotive at saidstation, a steam generator at said terminal, a multi-stage steam turbinereceiving steam through a supply pipe from said generator, a steamyexhaust pipe taking off from an intermediate expansion stage of saidturbine, a by-pass'from A said steam turbine supply pipe into theintermediate stage exhaust pipe, a valve in said by-pass'adapted tofunction in response to the Steam pressure in said exhaust pipe so as toopen when thesteam therein drops below a predetermined pressure or closewhen this predetermined'pressure is exceeded,'a communicating steam mainleading from both 11ovv said exhaust pipe andl said by-pass to one ofsaid steam supply pipes atthe direct steamias ing station, Y and another.communicating steam main leading from said steamgenerator tothe votherofsaid steam 'supply pipes at the direct steaming station.v Y

6. vIn a railway terminal, a direct steaming station, two steam supplypipes at said station, an outlet branch from each of said pipescommunicating through a single pipe connection with a locomotive at saidstation, an operating valve in each of said branches for admitting steamfrom one or the other of said supply pipes to the locomotive, at Will, acheck valve in each branch preventing backfiovv into either one of saidsupply pipes from the other or from the locomotive, a steam gen eratorat said terminal, a multi-stage steam turbine receiving steam through asupply pipe from said generator, a steam exhaust pipe taking off from anintermediate expansion stage of said turbine, a by-pass from the steamturbine supply pipe into the intermediate stage exhaust pipe, a valve insaid by-pass adapted to function in response to steam pressure in saidexhaust pipe so as to open when the steam therein drops below apredetermined pressure or close when this predetermined pressure isexceeded, a communicating steam main leading from both said exhaust pipeand said by-pass to one of said steam supply pipes at the directsteaming station, and another communicating steam main leading from saidsteam generator to the other of said steam supply pipes at the directsteaming station.

Signed at Cincinnati, Ohio, this 16th day of February, 1931.

EDISON BROCK.

